شش صندلیِ سبزِ لهستانی Six Green Polish Chairs

شش صندلیِ سبزِ لهستانی

نَشتِ نمک درون سنگ
 
سنگِ پرتاب شده از آینه
 
با دهانی آن سوی اشیا
 
اشیایی رو به فراموشی
 
که تکههای پریده رنگشان
 
در آینه میچرخد
 
شاید آن شش صندلی سبز به کافهای سفر کردهاند
 
سال ستاره و فرفره را به خاطر داری
 
نه
 
سال دوچرخهی روسی و برف را
 
نه
 
سال تپه و قناری را
 
نه  نه
 
تنها میدانم که دهانت دنیا را آفرید
 
و اشیا از درون مِه رها شدند
 
و زیباترین سنگ برای چهره تو باقی ماند
 
دامن سبز را که پوشیدم
 
خندیدی و گفتی
 
شب در چهرهی زیباترین سنگ غرق میشود
 
شاید این شش صندلی سبز
 
برای بازگویی خاطرات
 
به خانه بازگردند
 
با یک دامن سبز
 
و دهانی آن سوی اشیا 
 

Six Green Polish Chairs

Salt leaks through rock
a rock thrown through the mirror
a mouth beyond objects
objects lean towards oblivion
their pale pieces
spin in the mirror
those six green Polish chairs might have journeyed to a café
do you remember the year of star and pinwheel?
no
the year of snow and Russian bicycle?
no
the year of hill and canary?
no no
I only know that your mouth created the world
and released the objects from the fog
and the loveliest rock was left for your likeness
when I wore your green skirt
you laughed and said
night fades in the face of the loveliest rock
these six green chairs
may return home
to recall their memories
a green skirt
a mouth beyond objects
 

Iraj Ziayi has become known in Iran as the ‘Poet of Objects’ and he often uses the word ‘objects’ – we discussed whether ‘things’ might also work but Alireza Abiz observed that ‘things’ might imply abstractions whereas Ziayi is interested in the concrete. We all enjoyed the striking pictures created by this poem, and the way everyday objects are combined and recombined in ways that make them seem fresh and strange. In this poem there are three objects associated with an Iranian childhood: the pinwheel (a toy), the bicycle and the canary (a pet) and the way they are juxtaposed with natural phenomena to create a sense of the lurching perspectives of childhood was something we spent a lot of time discussing in our workshop (‘the year of star and pinwheel’). We also got very heated about the Polish chairs! A Polish chair is a very simple hardbacked chair and we did not know whether it would have this association to an English reader. In the end the granddaughter of a Lithuanian cabinet maker made such a strong case for honouring the Polish craftsmen we left them in. At first we thought this poem might be addressed to a lover, but gradually the sense of nostalgia and the reference to the skirt made us sway towards a mother being the addressee. After this the poem really seemed to gain focus. It is a haunting piece, full of longing for what is lost.

Clare Pollard, Workshop Facilitator

Six Green Polish Chairs

Salt leaking inside the rock
Rock thrown away through the mirror
With a mouth beyond the objects
Objects leaning toward oblivion
Whose pale pieces
Are spinning in the mirror
Those six green polish chairs might have travelled to a café
Do you remember the year of star and pinwheel?
No
The year of Russian bicycle and snow?
No
The year of hill and canary?
No No
I only know that your mouth created the world
And the objects got released from inside the fog
And the prettiest rock was left for your face
When I wore the green skirt,
You laughed and said:
Night drowns in the face of the prettiest rock
These six green Polish chairs
May return home
To retell their memories
With a green skirt
And a mouth beyond the objects
 

Iraj Ziayi has become known in Iran as the ‘Poet of Objects’ and he often uses the word ‘objects’ – we discussed whether ‘things’ might also work but Alireza Abiz observed that ‘things’ might imply abstractions whereas Ziayi is interested in the concrete. We all enjoyed the striking pictures created by this poem, and the way everyday objects are combined and recombined in ways that make them seem fresh and strange. In this poem there are three objects associated with an Iranian childhood: the pinwheel (a toy), the bicycle and the canary (a pet) and the way they are juxtaposed with natural phenomena to create a sense of the lurching perspectives of childhood was something we spent a lot of time discussing in our workshop (‘the year of star and pinwheel’). We also got very heated about the Polish chairs! A Polish chair is a very simple hardbacked chair and we did not know whether it would have this association to an English reader. In the end the granddaughter of a Lithuanian cabinet maker made such a strong case for honouring the Polish craftsmen we left them in. At first we thought this poem might be addressed to a lover, but gradually the sense of nostalgia and the reference to the skirt made us sway towards a mother being the addressee. After this the poem really seemed to gain focus. It is a haunting piece, full of longing for what is lost.

Clare Pollard, Workshop Facilitator

Original Poem by

Iraj Ziayi

Translated by

Alireza Abiz with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Persian

Country

Iran